In the Ted Talk titled, What's so funny about Mental Illness?, speaker Ruby Wax goes over the basis of mental illness. She talks about her dealing with mental illness, her mothers illness and why it happens. She even goes into depth with her illness, discussing how she has been in a institution, and how everyone told her to " perk up" (as if she didn't think about that ). This then leads to the topic of mental illness not being taken as seriously as any other illness, Wax ask the question, " how come when people have mental damage you've got an overactive imagination. How come every organ in your body can get sick except for the brain..." (Wax).
This completely ties into the book , Of Mice and Men, the main characters George and Lennie got to work at a ranch. Lennie actually has a mental illness, but because of the time period no one really recognizes his disease. George is Lennie's protector and watches out for him to make sure he dosen't get into trouble. Even though George is always around Lennie, he dosen't seem to recognize the illness that Lennie has. George just constantly refer to him as "crazy".
In terms of the American Dream this is might be the best example of it. People want to be recognized and not belittled. Mental illness is a real disorder and shouldn't be taken lightly. It is just as serious as any other disease or injury. It deals with the American Dream because people want to be happy and get the best care they can, and you can't do that if your illness is not being seen as "real".
This completely ties into the book , Of Mice and Men, the main characters George and Lennie got to work at a ranch. Lennie actually has a mental illness, but because of the time period no one really recognizes his disease. George is Lennie's protector and watches out for him to make sure he dosen't get into trouble. Even though George is always around Lennie, he dosen't seem to recognize the illness that Lennie has. George just constantly refer to him as "crazy".
In terms of the American Dream this is might be the best example of it. People want to be recognized and not belittled. Mental illness is a real disorder and shouldn't be taken lightly. It is just as serious as any other disease or injury. It deals with the American Dream because people want to be happy and get the best care they can, and you can't do that if your illness is not being seen as "real".